Canaries Awarded Bulk of National Power Contract
The Canary Islands are set to be one of the primary beneficiaries of the first ‘firm power’ tender for non-mainland Spanish electricity systems, resolved by the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge. The process, published in the State Gazette (BOE), has allocated over 1,450 megawatts (MW) across the country and will mobilise investment exceeding €500 million. Of this national total, more than 1,000 MW correspond to the Canary archipelago.
How the Competitive Tender Works
The competitive procedure grants the necessary compatibility for power plants to access an additional remuneration scheme. This mechanism guarantees a regulated profitability and ensures the wholesale price of electricity is uniform across the whole country, despite the higher cost of generation in isolated territories like the Canaries. The cost of this scheme is split 50/50 between the electricity system and the State’s General Budget. In 2025, it accounted for approximately €1.65 billion.
Breakdown of Awards Across the Islands
A total of 62 generation groups have been allocated in the Canaries. Of these, 34 correspond to new installations (25) or additional investments in existing groups (9), while the rest are linked to life-extension projects. The awards are broken down by island as follows:
Tenerife will cover 50% of its new power requirements with 11 groups from the company Sampol.
Gran Canaria has been awarded 344.14 MW, exceeding the 330 MW initially put out to tender.
The Lanzarote-Fuerteventura system will cover 67% of its new power needs through groups from Sampol (26%), DISA (33%), and Canary Carreteras (8%).
On La Gomera and El Hierro, the decision has been made to extend the useful life of existing installations. This is because El Hierro already has a high penetration of renewable energy through its hydro-wind plant, and La Gomera’s coverage will be improved by the forthcoming electricity interconnection with Tenerife.
Securing Supply and Planning for the Future
The tender has successfully covered the power requirements of all the archipelago’s electrical subsystems until 2029, in some islands exceeding the power initially requested. In parallel, the Ministry has updated the technical and economic parameters that will govern electricity production remuneration in the non-mainland territories for the period 2026-2031.
Furthermore, it has requested a report from the system operator on power needs up to 2031, with the aim of planning future tenders based on demand evolution. With this historic allocation, the Canary Islands reinforce their energy security and advance the modernisation of their electrical system—a key factor for sustaining the archipelago’s economic and tourist growth in the coming years.
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